The decision of the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, more or less to endorse Mr Obama's timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq sent shock waves through Washington, DC, discombobulating the White House and driving the McCain campaign into panic.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

With the integrity of the eurozone, one of the three great economic areas, in some doubt, it is seriously discombobulating for banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers and central banks that the safe harbour of US Treasury Bonds, US government debt, no longer looks quite the comforting refuge in a storm that it once was.

BBC: As the US loses AAA, where is a safe harbour?